Verlander will start throwing Monday; Dombrowski: 'I'd be surprised if he's not ready' for Opening Day

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander smiles during a media availability at Comerica Park before practice for Game 3 of the American League baseball championship series against the Boston Red Sox in Detroit, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

DETROIT — Just to clear things up, the Detroit Tigers would not be broken up if Justin Verlander was not ready to pitch at the start of the regular season, considering that he’s just over two weeks removed from core muscle surgery repair.

But the “IF” in there is the key word.

“He’s doing tremendously,” Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said Saturday at TigerFest, after getting text messages from his star pitcher to clarify his status. “Again, surgery that went well. He’s very determined. He’s young. You’re talking about a world-class athlete, and sometimes they can take longer. His healing process has been very good, and ahead of schedule.”

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In fact, his recovery and rehabilitation has gone so well, Verlander will begin throwing on Monday.

“Well, I’m not worried about Justin. He’s determined, a hard worker. These guys that are hard workers, that get surgery done, that are in the prime of their career, that are driven, they usually do pretty well in these cases,” Dombrowski said.
“But you also want to be careful that you don’t rush him. I don’t want to rush him. I want him to follow what the doctor says. That’s why I said, if he misses a start, great — do I think he’ll miss a start? No. I don’t. He’s going to throw Monday. It’s not even February yet, and he’s starting to play catch Monday.”

Verlander was concerned with reports that surfaced in the last few days that he might not be ready for Opening Day.

The Tigers don’t NEED him to be ready to go immediately, since they have three off days in the first three weeks of the season, meaning they could go with only four starters for a while.

“You know if Justin’s healthy, he’s going to be one of your four. We’ll just wait and see how it happens,” Dombrowski said. “Basically the doctor has been the one that’s been guiding him, and allowing him to do what he wants to do so far. But that’s why I keep saying, I’m not trying to push him to be ready. We just want him follow what he’s supposed to do, and if that gets him ready to start the season on time — which I think it will — great. But I don’t want it to be some huge thing. That’s why I said, ‘Let’s see what happens.’ I’d be surprised if he’s not ready at this point, from everything I hear.
“I mean, he’s starting to throw already.”

Matthew B. Mowery covers the Tigers for Digital First Media. Read his “Out of Left Field” blog at opoutofleftfield.blogspot.com.